XMen: New Blood
by FrostyKoala
Summary: The X-Men get some new blood to the ranks. How will the new recruits adjust to their new life and how will the veteran X-Men handle them? Come in and read to find out. And please don't forget to REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**** This is my first attempt at a fan fiction. The first few chapters might be a little short, but they are just introductory chapters for the different main characters. After I introduce all of them I will ask for possible plot ideas and choose the one I deem the best. So please read and review and be HONEST! Thanks a bunch! **

**Chapter 1: Apollo**

_**St. Mary Christopher Abbey **_

_**Lexington, Virginia**_

_BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! _

"Alright! I'm coming! You don't have to break the door down!" the nun said, a little exasperated and irritated that someone was banging on the door at four o'clock in the morning. When she finally reached the main doors and wrenched one of them open expecting someone, all she saw was darkness. She was about to close the door when she heard a faint cooing sound, like that of an infant. She looked all around outside, but saw nothing and no one and was about to close the door when she heard it again. This time she looked down and saw a bundle sitting on the top step of the entrance. She picked it up and unwrapped some of the cloth to reveal a baby. But this was no ordinary baby, for it was covered with red fur.

_I must consult the Mother Superior,_ she thought to herself.

"Enter," the Mother Superior replied when she heard the knock on her chamber doors. The nun entered rather hesitantly, fully aware that the Mother Superior would probably not like being woke up at four in the morning. This was, however, an emergency.

"Sister Maria, do you know what time it is? This better be important."

"Yes, Mother Superior. I'm sorry to disturb at this late hour, but I was roused from my slumber by a heavy pounding at the main doors. When I answered I saw no one, but I did find this," Sister Maria explained, showing the Mother Superior the wrapped bundle in her arms.

"What is it, dear Sister?"

"It is a baby."

"Someone left a baby on our doorstep? How odd…"

"Yes it is, considering that this is no ordinary child, Mother."

"How so?," the Mother questioned.

Instead of telling the Mother Superior, Sister Maria showed her the furry red babe.

"Hmmm… Yes, this is no ordinary child at all," the Mother Superior simply stated.

"What shall we do with the child?" the Sister inquired.

"Why, raise him as best we can of course."

"But who shall do this?"

"I was rather hoping that you would consider it, since it is you who found him," the Mother said with a kind smile. Sister Maria had actually given this thought, and readily agreed.

"So what shall you name him?" asked the Mother.

"Apollo for I feel a great musical energy coming from him," Sister Maria answered lovingly, looking at the sleeping baby in her arms.

"And what about a last name?"

"Lexington, so he never forgets where he comes from."

"Apollo Lexington… It's a fine name."

As the years passed, Sister Maria, the Mother Superior, and the other nuns of the abbey saw Apollo grow into a strong, fine young man with platinum blonde hair that fell straight to his shoulders. He also had two of the prettiest golden amber eyes that were at times hypnotizing. He was gentle as a lamb and would never harm a soul, despite his devilish appearance and immense size (which had earned him the nickname Goliath from some of the nuns, though some of the other nuns tended to call him Samson for his immense and inhuman strength). But as he got older, some of the townspeople began to notice him around the abbey, and believing him to be some sort of demon spawned from hell sent to destroy a house of God, they started a riot and tried to kill him. This was thwarted when the local police threatened to arrest everyone involved for conspiracy to commit murder.

After the mob incident, the Mother Superior called the Xavier institute and explained about Apollo. The institute agreed to take him in, but only if he agreed to come along. They weren't going to force him to do anything, but the Professor was going to send two of his pupils just in case he needed someone to talk to.

_**The Mother Superior's Office**_

"Please have a seat, my child," the Mother told Apollo. As he took his seat, Apollo started to wonder what he was called in here for, but when his mother, Sister Maria, walked in and sat down beside him, he understood that it had to do with the mob incident.

"I have called you both in here to talk about what happened with the mob incident," the Mother said, confirming Apollo's suspicions.

"I had nothing to with that. Neither did my mother. You can't possibly blame us for what the ignorant townspeople did…" Apollo began, but was silenced when the Mother held up her hand.

"I do not blame you or your mother, young Apollo. However, I am concerned for the safety of this abbey and its inhabitants. This is why I have called in a favor with someone I know who can give you a safer place to stay and study."

"This is a safe place for me! I won't leave and abandon all the sisters!" Apollo exclaimed. How could she possibly want to banish him for something that wasn't even his fault? It just wasn't right.

"It's not safe for you now that the townspeople have it in their minds that you are a demon from hell sent to destroy us. They will attack again. It may not be in the near future, but as long as you remain here, they will attack you again. And I'm afraid that the next time they do, the police won't be able to stop them. I'm saying this for your safety as well as the safety of the abbey," she explained.

"NO! I WILL NOT LEAVE!" Apollo exclaimed and then stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him and nearly tearing it off its hinges. The Mother Superior sighed and shook her head. The one thing about Apollo that she loved most was that he was headstrong and stubborn in his beliefs, but that was also the one thing she worried most would get him into trouble.

"I'll go speak to him, Mother," Sister Maria said when she saw the look in the Mother Superior eyes.

_**The Abbey Gardens**_

"I figured I'd find you in the gardens, Apollo," Sister Maria said. The gardens have always been a favorite place of his to just go and think, so she had chosen to look there first.

"How'd you know I'd be in the gardens?" he asked with obvious sarcasm for he knew that his mother knew him better than anyone else at the abbey.

"You know that the Mother Superior has only your best interests at heart, right?" she asked as he lied back and looked up at the sky. She waited for him to reply, but it was a few minutes before he spoke.

"Yeah… but I don't wanna leave. My life is here," he said.

"I understand that, but I feel that your chapter of life here is coming to a close. It's time for you to start a new one. It can do nothing but benefit you."

"Why do your philosophical words have to work on me?"

"Because I'm your mother and I love you and want what's best for you. Also, you know I'm right."

"Well yeah, but still it's not fair…" he whined. His mother looked at him and smiled.

"Life is full of things that aren't fair," she said. "Now will you go where the Mother Superior wants to send you?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Sister Maria smiled at him. She may not have raised the perfect child, but she felt that she had done a pretty good job. Together they got up and made their way back to the Mother Superior's office.

When they returned to the Mother Superior's office, they saw two other gentlemen speaking to the Mother. They all fell silent when Sister Maria and Apollo entered the room. One of the gentlemen was a tall man with handsome features and broad shoulders. He wore jeans and a white t-shirt under a leather jacket. The one thing about him that seemed peculiar though, was his glasses, which had ruby-red lenses. She sensed that they were holding back a great and destructive power.

The other gentleman, however, favored Apollo in many ways, the most prominent being the fur that covered his body and his equally devilish appearance. The main difference, however, was that his fur was a deep shade of blue, whereas Apollo's was a golden shade of red. Also, he had just three digits on each hand, where Apollo had five.

"Ah, here they are. Sister Maria, Apollo, this is Mister Scott Summers," the Mother Superior said, indicating the gentleman with the glasses, "and this is Mister Kurt Wagner," she indicated the other gentleman with blue fur. "They are from the Xavier Institute and have come to speak to you, Apollo."

"Nice to meet you," said Scott as he extended his hand. Apollo shook his hand and nodded his mutual feelings. He then did the same with Kurt, while noticing his strong German accent.

They talked for a while, and then waited for Apollo while he packed some things. When he was done, Apollo went to all the nuns in the abbey and bade them farewell. The Mother Superior gave a blessing for a safe journey and his mother, Sister Maria, gave him a tearful hug and a kiss goodbye. The last thing that crossed Apollo's mind as he left the abbey was, _I'm gonna miss the solitude of this place._


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**** This is character introduction #2. After this there will be two more intro chapters and then I will start asking for plot ideas. Please R&R!**

**Chapter 2: Dante**

_**Baton Rouge, Louisiana**_

_Damn it! I only have five minutes to get to class or I'm gonna be late!_, Dante thought to himself as he sprinted to the school. He was almost through the main doors when a hulking figure stopped him. As he looked up, he saw the face of the school bully, a junior by the name of Jordan Hightower.

"Well, well, well… look at what we got here fellas… a poor little freshy that's gonna be late to class," Jordan sneered. Little was an apropos description. Well, compared to Jordan, who stood at almost six foot four, Dante was a whopping five foot ten. Also, because Jordan played on the football team, he was built. Dante had nothing. Dante knew that Jordan loved to fight, and Dante was scared by this because he couldn't fight either. The only thing he could do was cower.

But then a voice in the back of his mind said, _This is enough! He should be as scared as I am, if not more! _When he heard this, Dante realized that the voice was right and he starting wishing that Jordan was as scared as he was. Then all of a sudden, Jordan was screaming in terror as a giant wolf with blood red fur and eerily glowing yellow eyes lunged at him. Before the wolf could tackle them, Jordan and his goons turned and bolted yelling something about freaks.

Dante expected the wolf creature to go chasing after Jordan, but instead it turned to face him. Part of Dante said to scream and run, but another part of him said that the creature wouldn't harm him. He listened to the latter and calmed down, and when he did, the wolf creature disappeared. He then realized that he had made the creature materialize. And that could only mean one thing.

He was a mutant.

Well, this freaked him out even more, so he got up and ran from the school grounds. He didn't stop running until he heard the school bell ring. After, he just walked to the local park and spent the day there, thinking about what had happened and coming to terms with the fact that he was a mutant. When he checked his watch and saw that school was over, he decided to head home and face his parents. He knew that they had probably received a call from the school telling them that he had skipped school.

"Yes. Yes. Thank you, Miss Hubert," Dante's father said as he hung up the phone. He turned to his wife who had a curious look on her face. "Dante has apparently gotten into a fight earlier with a fellow classmate and then proceeded to skip school for the day."

"He did WHAT?" she exclaimed.

Just at that moment, Dante walked in the house. He had heard his mother exclaim outside and knew that they had indeed received a call from Miss Hubert, the school principal.

"Before you start yelling at me, let me explain why I skipped school today," Dante hurriedly said. He then proceeded to tell his parents the events of that morning. When he had finished, his mother just held him tightly while his father went to make a call.

"Hi, my name is Derek Jones. May I speak to Ororo Munroe?"

**Author's Note:**** Now I know that this is a rather short chapter, but I intended to do this. More will be discovered of Dante in later chapters, so please be patient. And I know that I haven't exactly described his powers yet, but I'm sure that you can figure out what one is. I also hope to be updating this story by at least a chapter a day. If it takes me a bit longer to update, then please have patients with me. It WILL get updated. Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** **This chapter introduces the characters Kacee (pronounced like Casey) and her twin brother Kacen (pronounced like case-in) Evans. It also takes place a year before the first two chapters, as the twins already live at the institute by the time Apollo and Dante arrive. So read, enjoy, and review!**

**Chapter 3: Kacee and Kacen**

_**18**__**th**__** Street Orphanage**_

_**New York, New York**_

It was a cold night, when she ran up to the orphanage. She didn't want to give up the children, but she knew that she couldn't keep them. She had to get them away from the monster that was their father. She decided that she would come back for them when it was safe. As she placed them on the doorstep, she began to cry.

"Ah'm gonna see y'all agin, don' worry sugahs. Mommah loves yuns," she choked out with a heavy southern accent. She then stood and knocked on the door until she saw a light come on inside. By the time the lady answered the door, Rogue was well out of sight. With one last look at her babies, she flew off into the cold night. The last thing the lady saw before she found the babies was a bright flash of white light that she just attributed to lightning (though there were no storms in the immediate area).

_**Fourteen years later.**_

Everything was fine until the library exploded. It was kind of a major downer, but then any explosion is a major downer. Though, this was especially true for Kacee and her twin brother Kacen because it seemed that whenever something really bad happened, the blame fell on them (even if they were nowhere near the incident in question). But, it had been like that for their whole lives so they were quite used to it.

Though, this time seemed somehow different. Not so much that they weren't going to get the blame because they would no doubt, but that this latest calamity was somewhat more dangerous and Kacen sensed as much. He turned to his sister with a look of horror on his face.

"Kacee, there's someone trapped inside the library," he said. Kacen didn't know how, but he could somehow sense that deep in the flames there was a person trapped.

Kacee looked at her brother and a silent understanding passed between them and they knew that they had to something. They had no idea what it was they were going to do, but they ran for the library anyway. As they entered the burning building, they heard the cry of a little girl and rushed as fast as they could toward the sound. As they neared the little girl, a ceiling beam fell to the ground before them, engulfed in flames. When the heat hit Kacee's face, she instinctively put her hand up to shield it away. When she did, the heat immediately stopped and when she lowered her hand, she saw that the beam that had been on fire merely seconds ago was now encased in ice. She looked around to see if Kacen had seen this, but she couldn't find until she heard him shout her name.

"Kacee! Come help me with her!"

"I'm coming, Kacen!"

She ran forward and found Kacen with a little girl no older than seven in his arms. Kacee had no idea how they were going to get out, but Kacen just kept walking forward into the flames. Kacee quickly followed after in case she needed to use the new ability she had found out about to protect them from the fire. However, she soon realized that Kacen had it under control because when he walked right through, some flames there seemed to be a barrier around him that kept the flames away. Kacee hurried forward in time to pass through the barrier behind her brother and pass safely through the flames.

Outside, the authorities were restraining a woman from funning into the burning library for her daughter. They assured her that they had someone on their way to rescue her. By the time the officer had told her this, library gave one last final explosion.

"NOOOOOOO! My baby! My baby!" the woman screamed and then dissolved into tears over the loss of her child.

"Look! There's someone walking out of the fire!" a member of the crowd yelled as Kacen walked out carrying the little girl with Kacee right behind him. Kacen set the girl down, and she ran to her mother. Whilst the authorities were taking care of the mother and daughter, the twins fled back to the orphanage. When they got back, the headmistress of the orphanage told them to go wait in their room. They could tell that she had seen the news and had seen them walk out of the building. They could also tell that she was mad and had had enough.

When they got to their room, they went and listened through the vent that coincidentally was right above the headmistress's office and listened as she called some government science office and said that she had two mutants that they could have to experiment on and do with as they pleased. Upon hearing this, the twins packed a bag each of clothes and fled the orphanage never to return. They then went to living on the streets, scavenging any food that they could.

"Ah think this the right place, Logan," Rogue stated as they came to an alley. She wasn't sure the professor had told them the right location.

"No, this is the place," Logan said gruffly as he sniffed the air. "I can smell someone here, and it ain't a hobo." Just then, Logan felt a chill creep up his legs until it had affected his whole body and he was shivering slightly.

"Who are you?" an eerie voice called from somewhere deep in the alley. "What do you want?" "We mean ya no harm," Rogue said reassuringly. "We're jus' here tah help yuns."

_How does she know there are two of us? _Kacee thought to herself. _There's no way she could know. _

"I don't believe you." The eerie voice that was actually Kacee said.

"Nah, Ah'm serious. We're mutants, jus' like y'all," Rogue insisted.

"Alright, look here ya little twerps, how's 'bout ya stop with the little cold trick and come out and face us and stop bein' lil' cowards," Logan growled.

"Logan, ya gon' scare 'em! Now stop that!" Rogue scolded him, but he wasn't hearing it as he had grown impatient with them. At this point he unsheathed his claws and got ready to attack.

_Oh my god! He has metal claws! He must be a mutant. _Kacee wondered. She then called off the cold mist that she had summoned, and stepped out from behind the dumpster she had hid behind. Her twin, Kacen, walked from around boxes that had hidden him, as well. Rogue was a little surprised that they were so young. And that they looked so familiar.

"Ah'm Rogue an' this is Logan," Rogue said, introducing them both to the twins.

"I'm Kacee and this is my twin brother Kacen. Are you really here to help us?"

"Yes, we are. We're from a school in Westchester called Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. It's a school for people like us. People that have special abilities."

"Will we be safe there?" Kacen asks tentatively. "You're not gonna give us to some mad scientist who's gonna experiment on us are you?"

Rogue couldn't help but smile. "Nah, sugah, y'all gon' be safe at the school. Ah promise."

"Yeah, what she said," Logan gruffly stated, sheathing his claws.

And with that, the twins left the alley and joined the two in their car and rode off to a brighter future.

**Author's Note:**** Now I know the ending to this chapter is kind of cheesy, but I couldn't think of any other way to end so… yeah… there you go. Hope you enjoyed it! Don't forget to please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**** Okay, so like I've said before this is my first fanfic attempt. I'm not sure if I'll be good at getting the characterizations of the canon characters right, but I'll sure as hell try. Hope you read and enjoy and REVIEW!**

**Chapter 4: Crossing Paths**

_**Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters**_

_**Westchester, New York**_

__As Apollo stepped out of the car, he was greeted by a lady with beautiful red hair and a gorgeous face. She had on a white blouse that clung to her shapely figure in all the right areas. Her eyes had a very kind look in them, but they also seemed to guard a deep darkness within her.

"Hi, you must be Apollo," she said with a smile. "My name is Jean Grey. Welcome to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters." She held out her hand to shake his, and he took it, shaking it lightly.

"Thanks," he said. He then looked at the expanse of grounds that surrounded him and the enormous and handsome brick mansion in front of him. He could tell that the mansion had an ancient past and origin and liked that it was classy and homey. He also noticed the beautiful and large fountain in front of the school. It was very ornate and classy as well.

"Now, if you'll follow me, please. The professor would like to meet you and talk for a bit," Jean said, interrupting his visual intake of his surroundings, as she walked to a set of impressive oak front doors. He grabbed his bag and followed her through the doors and into the foyer where he saw two sets of grand and ornate staircases on either wall, leading up to a second floor.

"Those lead up to the bedrooms for the residents and guests. I can show them to you later if you would like. I could even give you a tour of the whole place," Jean explained.

"Yeah, that'd be cool," Apollo stated simply. He was beginning to like Jean. She was nice and pretty and seemed to genuinely want to help him get settled in. They walked down a maze of halls it seemed like before they finally stopped in front of a door.

"Well, here we are. I would come in and sit with you, but I have other matters to attend to right now. But don't worry; the professor will let me know when you're ready to take your tour, okay?" she said with a smile.

"Okay," he smiled back and walked through the door.

_Mutant… _The word echoed through Dante's head as he rode with his parents to the address that Ms. Munroe had given them. As he sat in the backseat with his eyes closed, he thought back to when she had come to their house and talked with them about the institute…

…_Knock! Knock! Dante's dad asked if he could get the door and he reluctantly got up and answered it. He opened the door to reveal a beautiful and regal looking lady with snow white hair that contrasted greatly with her rich ebony skin._

_ "Hello, my name is Ororo Munroe," she said, holding her hand out to him._

_ "Hi, I'm Dante," he said, taking her hand and shaking it. "Please, come in," he invited her as he stepped back, holding the door open. He would've loved to say that she walked in, but she seemed to glide. He closed the door and followed her to the living room, where she was saying hi to his dad like they were old friends_

_ "It's so nice to see you again, Derek," Ororo said, hugging him, when Dante walked into the room. She then turned to his mom and greeted her as well. They all then proceeded to take a seat, Dante between his mother and father and Ororo on the chair across from them. _

_ Dante then spoke, saying, "Umm… No offense, but why is she here?"_

_ "Ha-ha. None taken, my dear. I am here to discuss what happened to you today at school," Ororo answered him with a smile on her face._

_ "Oh… that… I already know that I'm a freak… you don't have to confirm it for me."_

_ "My dear child, you are most certainly _not _a freak. You are an extremely gifted young man with wondrous potential."_

_ "Only a freak can make a werewolf materialize out of thin air."_

_ "That is just part of the gift that has been bestowed upon you."_

_ "Not much of a gift if you ask me… it only proves that I don't fit in anywhere."_

_ "But there is a place where you will fit in, a place where you will be with others going through a similar situation."_

_ "Where is that, exactly?"_

_ "Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning."_

_ "But I'm just a freshman in high school. I can't go to college yet."_

_ "That's not a problem. You will receive the rest of your high school education there, as well as other courses to help enrich you as a person and prepare you for the real world."_

_ "So I'll basically by going to a school for freaks?"_

_ "No because you're not a freak, so please stop calling yourself that, okay?" _

_ "Okay, then if I'm not a freak, what am I?" _

_ "You're a mutant." He sat in stunned silence for a while. He then got up and ran to his room. His father started to go after him, but Ororo put her hand up to stop him and walked upstairs. _

_His room was easy to find, as the door had been decorated on the outside. She stopped and knocked and waited for an answer. She softly heard a, "Come in," and opened the door and sat next to Dante on his bed._

_ "You know, being a mutant isn't as bad as it seems," she said as it started to rain outside._

_ "Oh yeah? How so?" he asked._

_ "Well, for me, I have the ability to make the sun come back out when it rains. See?" she inquired, and as he looked up at her, her eyes turned a ghostly shade of white. She then pointed to his window and when he looked, he saw the rain and clouds that had formed, dissipate and the sun shone brightly through. He sat there, amazed, and thought to himself, _Maybe being a mutant isn't so bad after all.

_ "I'm just scared is all," he whispered. Ororo looked down at him, with a questioning look in her eyes. "Well, it's just that I'm already outcasted because I'm gay, but now I'm a mutant on top of that."_

_ "You won't have to worry. That shouldn't be an issue at the institute."_

_ "Are you sure?"_

_ "I'm sure and if it is a problem, you can always come and talk to me. So, will you go and give the institute a chance?" Ororo asked looking down at him. _

_ Dante sat there and thought for a minute before looking up at her and saying, "Sure, why not?"…_

…Now Dante was having some second thoughts about attending the Institute. But when they rounded a corner and entered through the gates, he was awestruck at the beauty of the place. He looked around at the grounds in front and saw other kids running around and having fun. He then saw one girl jump, and in mid-air, shift into a wolf. He also saw another turn pitch black with an aura of what appeared to be solar energy surrounding him, leap into the air and take flight. When they pulled up to the impressive oak front doors, they were greeted by the serene smile of Ororo Munroe.

"Good afternoon, Dante. Glad you and your parents could make it," she said as they all got out of the car. "Normally, I would take you to the headmaster's office for a meeting, but he is in the middle of one with another new student. So, in the meantime, I'm going to give you the grand tour of the school."

"Okay, but is there anywhere that I can put my stuff at?" he inquired.

"Of course. Our first stop, then, shall be your room," she answered as she opened the front door and lead them to the left side of a pair of staircases that lined both walls. As they were walking down the hallway, Ororo was busy explaining the living quarters.

"Students are all on the second floor, boys to the left coming up from the front and girls to the right. Faculty and staff are housed on the third floor to the left and the mansions long-term residents are in the right wing of the third floor. Ah, here we are. This will be your room that you will share with another student." Dante sat his stuff down on one of the two empty beds and followed Ororo back out into the hall and back down the stairs.

"Most everything else, like classes and the library, are on the first floor. We have a very extensive book selection, mainly do the fact that we offer a wide variety of courses to take and that there have been a few super geniuses and philosophers walk these halls." As she was saying this, a pretty redheaded girl came walking up to her.

"Hey, Storm," she greeted Ororo.

"Hello Jean, how are you?"

"Pretty good. How about you?"

"Much the same. I'm just showing young Dante here and his parents around while the professor is in his meeting."

"Oh, you must be the other new student. Welcome, I'm Jean Grey. If you ever have any questions you can always come to me… and if you want to follow me, the professor is done with his meeting and I have to give another new student the grand tour."

They followed Jean down what seemed like a maze of corridors until they reached a single oak door, upon which Jean knocked. The door then opened, and the tallest guy Dante had ever seen walked out and greeted her. He turned and waved a greeting to everyone else before he walked off behind Jean on his tour of the mansion.

"After you, Dante," Ororo said, holding the door open for him and his parents. He walked in and took a seat and looked at the man sitting across from him, behind an ornate wood desk. The man was bald with a kind face and eyes that held a vast amount of compassion, but also hinted at great power.

"Good afternoon, I'm Professor Charles Xavier."

**Author's Note:**** Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, but I had a difficult time coming up with a really good main plot line, but I'm sure you will find it worth the wait. I hope you enjoyed it and please review! **

_**And a special thanks to PiCka-ChIcK, skoolkid17, Connzox, and The Scratch Man for being the first to review my story! Thank y'all so much!**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:**** Sorry this update was a little long in happening, but I had been kinda busy as of late. But here's chapter five for ya! Enjoy and review please!**

**Chapter 5: Crossing Paths Part 2**

_**Lower East Manhattan **_

The streets were dark as the two figures walked along cautiously, as if keeping an eye out for any signs of danger. As they approached the door of a little boutique, a laser beam shot out of the dark, forcing Kacee to throw up a shield of ice to block it.

"Kacen, look out!" she yelled at her twin, as another laser beam shot out at him. He shot his hand out and, using the heat from the laser beam, redirected it back at the shooter, disabling the automaton. While he had been doing this, Kacee had turned back to her assailant and quickly shot off a shard of ice that hit the automaton in the middle of the head with deadly accuracy honed from countless sessions of training with Iceman. They hadn't taken no more than two steps when the street flooded with combat automatons that all took aim at them.

"You ready, Kacen?" Kacee asked her twin.

"Ready as I'll ever be," he replied with a sideways glance at her. As the robots all fired, Kacen shot into the air like a rocket with fire erupting from his balled up fists, and Kacee ducked down to the ground, forming a sheet of ice on the ground that spread outward toward the automatons. The automatons continued to fire off shots at the twins, but Kacee and Kacen kept up by firing off their own shots, destroying one after the other. When the last automaton had fallen, they stood together and gave each other a high-five and congratulated each other on a job well done, when suddenly the ground started to shake. As they looked around in confusion, a giant automaton came around the corner of a building.

Kacen gulped and said to Kacee, "So much for an easy simulation…"

"You got that right…" Kacee said in agreement. "We might as well go all out on it. What do you say?"

"Definitely," he replied as fire started slithering its way up his arms and legs, soon engulfing him in flames as he took on his element form, with Kacee doing the same. They got into their fighting stances as the giant robot launched its first attack.

_**Danger Room Control Room**_

_**Three Minutes Earlier**_

Logan watched as the twins expertly took down all the drones that came their way. He knew that they had chosen an easy simulation, but figured that they needed a good challenge so he raised the level from three to six. As they finished off the remaining robots, a giant one came lumbering from around the building and stood before them.

"So much for and easy simulation…" he heard Kacen state.

"You got that right…" Kacee agreed. "We might as well go all out on it. What do you say?"

"Definitely," Kacen replied, and Logan watched as he suddenly burst into flames, becoming his element, whilst Kacee did the same. They then got into the familiar fighting stances that he had taught them as the robot launched its first assault.

_**Second Floor of the Mansion**_

_**Boys' Wing**_

Dante stood in the room and looked around. It was plain. He didn't like plain. He hoped that his roommate didn't like plain either. He had already unpacked his stuff and left his personal touch to his bed, making it look a little cuter. He had also set up a few of his pictures to give the place a more _lived in_ feeling. He was about to go remake his bed when the door opened, and in stepped the tall red guy he had seen coming out of the professor's office before.

"Hey," was all the big guy said. As Dante got a closer look, he saw that the guy was definitely built, with thick red fur over every visible part of his body. He also had gorgeous golden amber hair and deep amber eyes that were somewhat hypnotic…

"Hey," Dante responded after a quick shake of his head. "How are you? I'm Dante."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Apollo." Dante noted that there was a slight musical lilt to Apollo's voice, making his name very apropos.

"So, if you don't mind my asking, what's your mutant ability?" Dante asked in an attempt to make conversation.

"I have super strength," Apollo simply replied. "What about you?"

"Apparently I can telepathically reach into your mind and psychically manifest your deepest, darkest fear," Dante said, rather nonchalantly. Apollo gave him a look that suggested worry, so Dante calmed him down by adding, "But I don't do it unless needed or provoked."

"Oh, ok… Cool," Apollo said nonchalantly as he looked around the room. As he was surveying his surroundings, he noticed that Dante's whole side of the room was already decorated with a few things and that his side was just plain, which suited him just fine because he never really had much in the way of personal decorations growing up in the abbey. He walked over to his bed and took out his crucifix and hung it overhead and then placed the only picture of Sister Maria on his nightstand.

While Dante was observing this, he couldn't help but to think, _I hope that's not all he's gonna put up… _Dante's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. When Apollo answered it, Jean Grey was standing there.

"I see you guys are making the room a little more like home," she said with a smile, "but if you guys will follow me, the professor would like to see you in the danger room."

_**Danger Room**_

_**Subbasement of the Mansion**_

Dante was now in the subbasement for the second time in one day, but this time he was going into the danger room and he was nervous. He certainly didn't know what to expect or what the professor was wanting with him or Apollo.

When they stepped in to the danger room, there were two other students standing there; a boy and a girl. They appeared to be roughly the same age as Dante and also looked like twins. The girl had long raven black hair with blue highlights throughout and the boy had short black hair with fiery red streaks throughout. They both stood in their uniforms and had stopped in the middle of what looked to be a very serious conversation when Apollo and Dante walked in.

"Hi… I'm Dante," he said introducing himself.

"I'm Kacee and this is my twin brother, Kacen," she replied, indicating her brother and herself. "And you are…?" she asked Apollo.

"Oh, I'm Apollo," he answered.

"Look all I'm saying is that next time I think that you should aim a little higher with that fireball and hit the middle of the chest and not the bottom of the ribs," Kacee was told her brother.

"But there's a greater chance for injury if I hit rite at the bottom of the ribs," he argued back.

"If you hit in the middle of the chest, you have a greater chance of breaking the breast bone," she countered.

"True, but I usually throw at an upward curve and therefore have a greater chance of making the fireball bust out of the back depending on how hard and hot I make it."

"Oh… okay now I didn't know that you did that," she said with a slight chuckle, "but I do think that you should try my suggestion sometime…" she was interrupted by the opening of the danger room door as guys walked in.

The first one she saw was damn near seven feet tall and red. He also had platinum blonde hair and golden amber eyes. He was such an imposing figure that she almost didn't see the other guy until he said, "Hi… I'm Dante."

After she composed herself and registered that there was another standing beside the giant, she calmly stated, "I'm Kacee and this is my twin brother, Kacen. And you are…?" she inquired of the tall guy.

"Oh, I'm Apollo," he said simply.

"So, what's your abilities?" Dante asked.

"Well, I'm a female version of Iceman but only in the power sense," Kacee answered.

"And I'm a pyrokenetic," Kacen said simply.

"What about you guys?" Kacee asked, looking critically at the two of them. Dante was about to answer when the door to the danger room opened and the professor rolled in followed by Logan.

"Well, I'm glad you four got to meet," the professor said.

"Umm… Professor why are we in here, if you don't mind me askin'…?" Dante questioned.

"You're here so I can see the extent of your abilities, and also to see how much training will be needed as well, as well as what kind of training that you need," he responded.

"Oh, okay. Cool," Dante said.

"If that's why they're here, then what are Kacen and I here for?" Kacee inquired.

"To act as the enemy they have to defeat," the professor simply stated.

"Okay… So why not put them into a simulation?"

"I feel that they will benefit from live adversaries."

"But I'm not sure they…" Kacee was interrupted as an explosion knocked her and everyone else down and left a crater in the wall of the danger room. Standing in the crater was a man cloaked in shadow.

"Your mother thought she could hide you from me by placing you in the past… How pathetic. Now that I've found you, it's time to take you back home, where you belong," the man said with malicious humor. Just then, there was a flash of white light that momentarily illuminated him causing Kacee and Kacen to gasp. The man standing in the crater looked just like the man that had haunted their nightmares for as long as they could remember.

"If ya lay a hand on 'em, ah'll kill ya mahself, ya crazy bastard!" yelled a woman who hadn't been there before. She had shoulder length brown hair with stark white bangs. She had on a black leather one piece outfit with silver boots and fingerless silver gloves. She also had a silver hip chain around her waist.

Logan stared for a second before saying, "Rogue?"


End file.
